Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette module, in particular an ophthalmological cassette module, for receiving aspirated material, in particular liquids. The invention further relates to a suction system with the cassette module.
Description of Related Art
In surgical appliances for eye surgery, various types of discharge containers for collecting material aspirated from the eye are known in the prior art. These are of different designs depending on the vacuum pump technology that is used.
In appliances with vacuum pumps operating according to the Venturi principle, a vacuum of up to 700 mmHg is usually present in the discharge container, as a result of which the latter serves not only for receiving the aspirated materials but also as vacuum container. In this case, the discharge container has to be dimensionally stable in design and have thick walls, in order to ensure that the container can be used as vacuum container at these pressure differences. As a result of this design, a comparatively large amount of material is needed to produce the discharge containers, and this has a negative impact on costs, both in terms of procurement and of disposal. Moreover, disposable discharge containers, which are increasingly being used on account of the enhanced patient safety against infections and the easier procedures in the operating room, require a relatively large amount of material.
Moreover, the production costs as such are also relatively high, since the discharge containers are usually produced from several parts that are connected to one another by ultrasonic welding. This further increases the costs.
Moreover, in some of the known surgical appliances, all the sensors and actuators, which require mechanical contact with elements of the cassette, e.g. pressure sensors and flow sensors, engage directly on the vacuum container. For good and reproducible measurement accuracy, and therefore precise electronic regulation of the fluidics, these sensors require stable mechanical interfaces. In this case, therefore, the vacuum container has to be made very stiff, in order to avoid deformations caused by the vacuum build-up, which deformations would otherwise adversely affect the functionality of the mechatronic and fluidic system.